The Bride and I plan to leave for Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland at the end of this month. Tenatively, we plan to go to L'anse aux Meadows and St. John's and back to Channel-Port aux Basque. Perhaps too ambitious. We'll beeline up Interstate 95, stopping by Stan's in Natick, MA to tune it up. We would like to meet Sambinos on the way and in the Canadian Provinces, get any suggestions for routes, cool places, and camping, as well as create a safety net on our route, and, of course, invitations to share alcohol and food. I would like to hear any caveats, such as long spaces between fill ups, your NS/NL ferry experience, and road conditions.
We attempted this trip four years ago, but fell out of discipline on the islands and beaches of Massachussetts and Maine and ran out of time in New Brunswick. We have a month set aside this time. The route on the way home is open.

I did this trip in a 1960 Westfalia in 1973. The brakes failed in St. Johns and the headlight switch burned up somewhere around Grand Falls. Other than those events, it was a great trip. Anything I have to say about Newfoundland though would be out of date. If you are cruising through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, I recommend all coastal parts of Cape Breton Island plus the small towns around Bras d'Or Lake. It is also very pretty near Apple River on the Bay of Fundy. Kouchibouguac National Park in New Brunswick is beautiful (and great for cycling) if you can get in there.

There are many small roads and highways in these two provinces which make for good VW bus travel. Newfoundland pretty well has the Trans-Canada through its length.

First welcome, prematurely, I think you'll find all Newfoundlanders friendly, don't be surprised if they invite you into their homes.
The Ferry can be an ordeal, but worth it. If landing in Port Aux Basque you'll have a bit of a drive to L'anse aux Meadows. Most communities in Newfoundland are not along the highway so bank on some extra time to see the real culture.
L'anse aux Meadows is ok, but stopping at Gros Mourn Park is a must. Take the Western Brook Pond tour. If your fit, hike to the top of Gros Mourn mountain, the Table Lands are neat, compariable to the surface of mars.
Most tourists do Gros Mourn, L'anse aux Meadows and some other west coast attractions and then turn around and head back to Canada, or US. Its a long drive to St. Johns. Highway is Two lane rural style compared to other Provinces.
There are a few interesting stops along the way. Towns such as Grand Falls, and Gander have most services. Terra Nova National Park is a good stop, camping services and such.
If your up for a bit of detour turn off and visit Bonavista. Lighthouses, museums, watch whales from the shore. Stop in Trinity and walk around. Visit The Mercantle for Lunch. Have an epanada. Bunch of other places along this side road. Bit of a drive but worth it.
Backtracking out of the Bonavista Peninsula, and back on the Trans Canada Highway, the town of Clarenville is nearby and has most services.
Carry on to St. Johns, here you'll find every convenience. World known reastraunts, museums, tours. Pippy Park campground is a micro wilderness right in the city. Visit Signal Hill for a view of the city. Visit Quiti Vidi village, zip line in Petty Harbour, visit Cape Spear, the most easterly point in north america. Boat tours, whale watching.
Our local VW show is this weekend (aug 9) so you'll miss that. The local club VOGN (volkswagon owners group of Newfoundland) has a cruise near the end of the month. VOGN has a website, but their facebook page is more active. There is also a facebook page Volkswagon Lovers Of Newfoundland, i think, lots of local aircooled knowledge there.
Bring warm cloths, we are not the warmest place, but this year is unusually cold. Emergency VW service will be sparse but we can get information should you need it.
Watch for moose on the highway, they are huge And hitting one will not be good.
Thats my quick tour. Ask any questions and I'll try and get an answer.

We met at CTS this year- happy to hear that you are coming north now. Sounds like a great trip and there is lots to see. I am a big fan of Grand Manan Island- just off the coast Of New Brunswick. As others have mentioned there is lots of great scenery to check out as well as culture. Beware the north end of Nova Scotia (Cape Breton) has some very decent sized hills as does Newfoundland so be forewarned. As others have also said Newfoundland seems to be having a particularly cold and rainy summer so far so hope that the weather picks up.

I will let real maritimers chime in with great things to see as I am far east of there by a number of provinces and a couple of thousand kilometres. If you have heaps of time on your hands come say hello to Canada's biggest city- we would be happy to meet up with you

Thank you snuffelupabus for the details that you took the time to write, we will study them. I hope that the weather eases up, and that the dead hurricanes wait until October. Good to hear from you Don and Michael, thanks for the invite. Grand Manan was on my list last time, we will try to get there on the way back.

From one cackalackian to another....
Since you are driving up I95 I might suggest something I did a few years back, if you have time and/or interest. Cross the Verasonos (sp?) bridge and head out to Coney Island for a hot dog and quick walk on the boardwalk. Then circle back around, drive over the Brooklyn Bridge. Run down to times square and do a drive through. Then get out of the city and head north.
How many times will you get to drive your bus to those locations? Just try to hit times square and downtown NY in an "off" hour. Not something like 5pm on a Friday like I did.

Great suggestion Garry, it sounds like we did the same the last time we went. We did the Manhattan thing on the way up and spent two weeks in Maine, New Brunswick, and Quebec. That's why we ran out of time to get to the Maritime Provinces. We might return via Long Island. There will be pics. Thank you.

If you think about driving your bus in Europe someday, Quebec (city and province) is a decent surrogate, especially if you can talk some of the language of love.

We did CT to NFLD 18 years ago in our bone stock 1965 Westy. Was a great trip. I second spending time in Gross Morne, and unbelievable area. Great people and the ferry is not so bad. Do the night crossing and you won't loss a day of your trip